If A Tree
Falls: A Story Of The
Earth Liberation Front (2011/Oscilloscope
DVD) + Madagascar: The Land Where
Evolution Ran Wild (2011/BBC Blu-ray Set)
Picture: C+/B- Sound: C+ Extras: B- Documentary/Episodes: B-/B
What to do about protecting the environment, especially
when there are some companies and individuals who irresponsibly pillage and over-pillage
nature. Protests help and I strongly
believe the majority of people want preservation and protection to enough of an
extent, while most environmental groups continue to protest the situation. However, a group called the Earth Liberation
Front decided to go a step further making them probably the biggest domestic
terrorist organization since The Weather Underground. Marshall Curry’s If A Tree Falls: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front (2011) shows
their rise and fall.
Seemingly out of nowhere, amongst a new wave of such
protests, the secret group started to burn down businesses, factories, mills
and even vacation resorts to prove a point, they said. They wanted to get attention, hurt the
“capitalist system” and try to get their idea of exploitation to stop. Unfortunately, their methods were dumb, old,
obsolete, not well thought out and ultimately ineffective, especially when they
collapsed. Eventually, turning on each
other, some went to prison and others were free.
Curry is able to interview various members and tell their
story, as well as talking to business victims and authorities about the events
and the idiocy that led to their downfall.
I agree that the environment is being overexploited, but two wrongs do
not make a right and some of these people learned this the hard way. I also think this would not have happened if
a healthier pro-environmental discourse existed in our society that has been
absent since the 1980s, yet that is not excuse for what they did no matte what
they believed.
I liked this work, even when some of what was going on was
predictable. It shows that any history
repeats itself when the past ifs forgotten, though an example of the arrogance
comes form one member who said no one was killed during their destructive spree
and (unlike the “corporate sprees”) stood for something because “no one was
killed” which shows that being stupid is also dangerous when combined with
doing stupid things.
When I was finished, I wanted Curry to ask a few questions
he did not. Did they realize why they
were wrong? Did they realize why they
really failed? Did they realize why they
might have been more smug and self-righteous than they ever admitted? Would they have done the same things in an
exotic location like a rainforest? Did
they ever think the destruction and pollution they created with their
destruction was anti-environment? What
about any plants or animals they killed, plus possible accidental killings of
people (like what happened with The Weather Underground) that could have
happened? They are NOT heroes and Curry
leaves that possibility open in an odd way.
I am happy to argue against that.
That made watching the next program all the more ironic.
Continuing their pretty prolific nature series BBC Earth,
the famed broadcaster is back with Sir David Attenborough and Madagascar: The Land Where Evolution Ran
Wild (2011), not to be confused with the CG Animated features from
DreamWorks especially as this one has more animals and the locale is
great. Turns out that 80+% of the
animals and plants found there are not found anywhere else, which the three
episodes plus bonus show demonstrate, but this is comprehensive for being as
limited a mini-series as it is.
The main episodes are Island Of Marvels, Lost Worlds and Land Of Heat
& Dust, plus we have Attenborough
& The Egg, counted in this set as a bonus episode, but we’ll treat it
as a fourth show as some lists do. The difference
is this one flashes back to 1961 when he found the pieces of a giant egg. He goes back to find out its origins and if
it can reveal anything else about the indigenous animals there. Needless to say there are plenty of surprises
here and t is another winning document of the rare and of things most of us
have never seen before, which is why it proves the BBC Earth series is alive,
well and definitely should continue.
The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Madagascar
is not bad, but there are some definition limits and some motion blur, though
some of the issues were unavoidable under the circumstances. We also get occasional vintage footage, as we
do on the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 Tree, which has more motion blur and
more analog video footage. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo on both have their share of simple stereo and some older
analog mono, though the best audio does not have any real surrounds to it and Tree has location audio issues at times. Extras on Madagascar include that fourth bonus show and Lemurs Of Madagascar with Charlotte Uhlenbroek, while Tree adds Deleted Scenes Extended
Interviews, an Original Theatrical Trailer, Updates on the subjects of the
documentary, Q&A after an Ashland, Oregon screening and feature length
audio commentary by Curry and Producer/Cinematographer Sam Cullman.
- Nicholas Sheffo